topic Re: Silly Offers in Selling

Silly Offers

clubesquire — Tue, 01 May 2018 05:34:55 GMT

The scenario: A rather expensive, but nonetheless very competitively priced item or items, don't sell. They've been relisted a couple of times. In come the offers after the auction has closed. It normally happens with High End items. Silly offers. Not for half of the listed price, but half the cost price.

Who are these buyers who obviously see themselves as our saviours? I make this statement because of the way the offers are often worded. They also seem to be many. How did they propagate? Is there actually a plethora of sellers who will actually succumb to such silliness. I mean honestly, it does take some time to sell some items, but invariably they all sell. It's a matter of matching a buyer with a particular item. But, people who make these offers seem to think we go into desperation mode if an item doesn't sell.

It's just becoming a bit annoying. Once upon a time, in the early days, I would politely respond and decline the offers! because I don't like being rude. Now though, I treat them with the contempt they deserve and ignore them. Their offer is rude. Too much time wasting when you are busy.

Perhaps they score more often than I give them credit for. They've certainly got some front and must be watching things very closely.

Melina (having a bad hair day)

Re: Silly Offers

kopenhagen5 — Tue, 01 May 2018 05:40:12 GMT

Hi melina,

Probably a little to do with the popularity of Gumtree, many just think they can offer what they like.

There are also buyers make the offer then it's accepted and they message saying, "Oh I didn't realize I had to buy it, I was just making the offer to see if it would be accepted".

You can set auto reject for offers below a certain amount if you haven't seen that function.

Now though, I treat them with the contempt they deserve and ignore them. Their offer is rude. Too much time wasting when you are busy.

Ah, you're learning.

Re: Silly Offers

gec2002 — Tue, 01 May 2018 05:51:05 GMT

Maybe you could send them a polite message asking which 10% of the item they would like to buy with their offer, or if they would consider including their first born, and if so you would be willing to do a deal.

Besides those silly offers the ones that irrate me are those that tell you that you need to lower your price as XYZ store has it at half your price. The last one I received I looked up the B+M store price and found an item that I had at less than the store price. I then suggested that they email the store and tell them they should drop their price, and how much the multinational would appreciate their help with pricing.

Re: Silly Offers

melbourneclearance — Tue, 01 May 2018 06:55:20 GMT

They're here, they have always been here and they will always be here. For me, if the offer is way too low, nowadays I just go "Ha! The nerves!" and ignore it. I used to reply to those but some of them got insulted by my polite (or so I thought) replies. However, sometimes the offer is for some junk that I want to rid off but haven't got around to reducing the price, then I go "Ha ha! The luck!". If the offer is too low, but within what I think is negotiable, then I negotiate, most times this works out well.

Re: Silly Offers

davidc4430 — Tue, 01 May 2018 07:15:10 GMT

they are indian call center staff on their lunch break

Re: Silly Offers

clubesquire — Tue, 01 May 2018 07:15:53 GMT

@ Kopes ....

hehe!! Sure am 🙂

Re: Silly Offers

digital*ghost — Tue, 01 May 2018 09:26:09 GMT

I like playing innocent with people like this, sometimes subtly, sometimes less so....

eg Sorry, there seems to be a typo as your offer has come through as only $5 (or however much it was)

Or - if I'm in the mood to hit as many buttons as I can - I might be tempted to send back a melodramatic message that, whilst thanking them for their thoughtful offer, the amount of their offer seems to suggest they're new to the hobby and the lack of understanding of the product has me a little concerned for them. Then I'd go on to say it would be in their best interest to research the kind of products I'm selling and getting some insight on their worth, since in my extensive experience, those who have a sound knowledge in the area are less likely to be taken advantage of by unscrupulous people, and I would hate for that to happen to anyone, least of someone attempting to be most kind and generous as they are. (Add in a "no offence" or "and I mean this with the most sincere intentions" here or there, for good measure).

Re: Silly Offers

joztamps — Tue, 01 May 2018 10:13:24 GMT

I would make them a counter-offer of twice the listed price, and advise them that all future correspondence should be directed to my agent, Offers You Can't Refuse P/L, aatention Mr M. Gatto.

Re: Silly Offers

kopenhagen5 — Tue, 01 May 2018 10:49:27 GMT

@joztamps wrote:
I would make them a counter-offer of twice the listed price, and advise them that all future correspondence should be directed to my agent, Offers You Can't Refuse P/L, aatention Mr M. Gatto.

Funny.........but ya gotta be careful using that name.

Re: Silly Offers

brerrabbit585 — Wed, 02 May 2018 03:55:00 GMT

I don't have make an offer on anything. I used to reply to offers in messages and say sorry but not. These days I just put them straight on my blocked list. Do these people do the same in b&m shops or only on ebay where they can do it anonymously?

Re: Silly Offers

Anonymous — Wed, 02 May 2018 04:02:28 GMT

I had one Wally send me an offer on an item which already had bids on it (no make an offer option) and offered less than half the price it was already up to

That one went straight to the ~~pool room~~ blocked list

Re: Silly Offers

davidc4430 — Wed, 02 May 2018 09:47:14 GMT

i had a guy contact me wanting a deal on a couple of my items, we did the deal and he said he was very happy with it but could i wait until the weekend as he wouldnt have funds until then.

so being trusting i said id delist the 2 items and relist them combined on saturday and message him.

oh, thats great he says.

so i do that.

whole weekend passes, no sale.

no messages.

so monday afternoon i relist them as original and put a block on him.

tuesday night i get a message 'whats happened, i try to buy just now and it wont work'

i answer i work on trust, he broke my trust, no more deals for him.

i hear nothing for weeks then last friday i get a message, 'so now you wont let me buy it now? did i make you mad or something?'

some just dont get it, and he never will from me now.

Re: Silly Offers

brerrabbit585 — Thu, 03 May 2018 03:05:27 GMT

What I really love is when it sells for full price to someone else soon after.

I had an item that got lost in the post last year and had to send a replacement. They didn't open an ebay case so it worked out okay. I had no suspicions at the time but when she contacted me a few months later asking to buy something else for a discount I started to wonder whether the first item really did get lost! I lost one item and the postage on it, then she thinks I'll give her a discount on the next one??

If I want to give stuff away I could do it elsewhere with a lot less effort. She's now on my blocked list and I sold one of the items she wanted on facebook last week. 🙂

Re: Silly Offers

davidc4430 — Thu, 03 May 2018 06:07:03 GMT

some buyers seem to think i'm skint, need the cash fast so i'll pretty much give my stuff away.

what i usually do is set my prices when i first list high so i can come down a bit and still get what i want.

but i dont need to sell, i can wait, i think of it like fishing. bait the hook, throw it in and wait for a bite.

sometimes i catch a fish quick sometimes it takes weeks or even months. or maybe an item never sells, thats life.

put it away for a while and try again in 6 months.

Re: Silly Offers

moonbeemz53 — Thu, 03 May 2018 06:18:43 GMT

I am getting so many more of these recently, especially from the US. Most of my items have make an offer, so when I have a sale they jump in to get it even cheaper. Often less than a quarter of the price on higher priced items and frankly it's insulting. I just counteroffer with a few dollars less than the original for these, I've given up being polite and having conversations.

Re: Silly Offers

justkidzbiz — Thu, 03 May 2018 18:05:44 GMT

I had 2 items the same listed, one on each of my accounts, at $60. I get a msg from one buyer "can I buy this for $30?" Replied "no, it's $60." Then offers $50. Again "no its $60. She ended up buying one for $60.

Sometimes I just feel like replying "where on my listing does it say "offers"

the worst ones though are on FB. Constantly offer ridiculous prices. Now, I add .....

"Do I accept offers? No, the price is as listed!

Q. Is this available? A. If it's listed it's available.

they ask if it's available, I respond yes and then never hear from them. So I don't bother responding anymore. If they "really" want they item, they'll msg to say they want to buy it.

Re: Silly Offers

negron18 — Fri, 04 May 2018 00:14:51 GMT

change the customer not the price.

Re: Silly Offers

negron18 — Fri, 04 May 2018 00:17:39 GMT

Also gotta love the international customers who say your postage is too high can you reduce it by half.

I reply by giving them the contact details of australia post and tell them to ask aus post directly as they set the prices on postage not the sellers.

Re: Silly Offers

davidc4430 — Fri, 04 May 2018 00:43:38 GMT

i have one now, 2 days ago messages me wanting several of my items can i do combined postage.

sure i say, let me know which ones you want so i can weigh them then i'll get you a price.

last night i get a reply with a list of items.

so i get them out, weigh them, do the calculations. send the price, items including postage.

if hes happy i'll relist them as a single item at the price.

about an hour later i get a 'yes, that is fine' thank you.

so i relist the items and message him. giving him the listing title just to make finding it easy.

then nothing, they havent even been viewed.

Re: Silly Offers

digital*ghost — Fri, 04 May 2018 01:06:22 GMT

@negron18 wrote:
Also gotta love the international customers who say your postage is too high can you reduce it by half.
I reply by giving them the contact details of australia post and tell them to ask aus post directly as they set the prices on postage not the sellers.

I had a US buyer who wanted to buy an item listed for AUD$3.50. I use letter post to send it OS, and I charge $4 for postage (in USD, that would have been around $3, and a bit over $3, respectively).

She messaged me and wanted me to lower the postage cost, I replied and said no, and she messaged back saying that the postage cost was higher than the item cost and it was "the principle of the thing". Righto... I replied and said if I were the CEO of Australia Post, I'd be more than happy to lower the cost to send mail from one side of the world to the other, but since I'm not, I can't.

She never messaged back again, but did purchase.